Paul Gardner Allen, the co-founder (with Bill Gates) of Microsoft, was passionate about sports, space, and music and the Northwest — and he made his billions go to work for all his passions. Allen created the Experience Music Project around his guitar idol Jimi Hendrix (later renamed the Museum of Pop Culture) and he owned two professional sports franchises in the great Northwest, the Seattle Seahawks and the Portland Trail Blazers, which he bought in 1988. (He was also part owner of Major League Soccer’s Seattle Sounders.)
Allen died in October of last year at age 65 from complications due to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. His beloved Portland Trail Blazers are wearing a black patch on their jerseys with the letters PGA and a rose to honor their late owner, who would no doubt be ecstatic at how the Blazers are performing during this year’s NBA playoffs. The Allen-owned Blazers made the NBA Finals twice in 1990 and 1992 but fell short of claiming the title.
Below is some video of Paul Allen playing guitar with some rock legends — it’s stuff billionaires get to do, but not many did it this well. Wow. PGA, RIP — Go Blazers.
